2023_05_17 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- Psalm 119
I’m not sure when I started doing this, but it has been many years, and it is a choice that has paid off enough, and often enough that I have no plan to change it. I keep a hundred-dollar bill in my wallet. It is folded up and hidden among some other cards. There have been several times when I was in desperate need of cash, and having that money hidden and available made a huge difference.
In Psalm 119, we come across this verse, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (119:11 NLT), and it reminds me of what I do with my hidden money. The writer is saying that having memorized certain passages of the Bible is like carrying around unseen cash so that we are always prepared and never without help. The idea is to keep the truth with us so that we are never caught off guard and helpless. I believe this is especially important in areas of a regular or particular temptation. Knowing what the Bible specifically says about something is much better than merely knowing a topic is covered “somewhere in the Bible”. For example, I have struggled with anger my whole life, and I have memorized a few verses which have significantly helped me in the heat of a moment when I was about to give into my rage. Here are a few that regularly come to my mind:
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” James 1:19–20 (NLT)
“A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.” Proverbs 19:11 (NAS)
“A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.” Proverbs 12:16 (NIV)
Having these verses understood and buried deep in my heart and mind hasn’t eliminated my anger. However, often times the Holy Spirit reminds me of them when I first start to get mad and challenges me to abandon my anger and submit to God and His wisdom.
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor